Apr 27, 2011 12:47 PM

Me and my boyfriend were laying down in a park when we noticed what looked like black and white wasps, they didnt have a buzz sound but 1 kept coming at me like it wanted to sting me. 1 of them perched on the grass then disappeared underground, my boyfriend started poking at the hole to see what it would do but it came out of the hole with what seemed to be a grub of some sort. We couldnt get a picture cos they would hover and then fly away. Please can you let me know what you think they might be. Thanks

A brilliant description of Andrena cineraria, which is a bee, the Ash Mining-bee to be precise, doing just what they should be doing - all is explained in this Bees, Wasps & Ants Recording Scheme (BWARS) information sheet:

Well I still reckon they were solitary (mining) bees - how about Colletes succinctus (image below) these have a very stripy abdomen and in all this sun the reddish hairs get bleached and many get rubbed off so these are less conspicuous. Not all bees buzz, these are quite quiet.